Epilogue

Watson watched from a distance as the destruction rained down on the Devorian town, the being who exacted such horror could have only one source. 'We can do nothing of this sort, it must be them. It must be their master… nobody else would do this… I have to return, I have to go home and tell the Web Mother and the Chasm Father that we must join with these foreigners, and never cross them… or our chasms will become lakes for them to fish in, and our bodies ash scattered around the world, never to be known again.' And with that, the scorpion man hastened for home as fast as his legs could carry him.

Ratata'tan clutched the pupae in his arms and watched what might as well have been a mountain, crash down on the town he'd so recently called home. He wiggled his whiskers and shivered. 'I'm glad I had the sense to have a few of these brought to me beforehand, even if I only saved one, with only one, we'll have our own Queen soon. And because of that, and my good instincts… I am not back there to see the place destroyed. Fools, fools all, if someone who commanded blood magic on that scale was a subordinate, what did you think a superior to him could do?' His rat tail danced at his back, and he shivered again at the memory of the blood magic user that could only have been a supremely powerful Vampire Lord.

'I'll deliver this to the God Emperor, collect my reward, report what I saw… and after that… fade into obscurity somewhere… I don't think I like the odds of a happy end for me if I stay in a place like this, no, no I do not. Now come along, little Queen, you're going to make me rich.' Ratata'tan thought, and scampered away with the blast of burning hot air scorching his back as he fled, being the last survivor of the town. 'Maybe I should leave off the part about the caster… just call it a natural disaster I narrowly avoided, I wouldn't want them to think I'm a coward… just lucky.' He told himself, and nodded at his own cleverness until night fell and the nightmares haunted his dreams, nightmares that he doubted would ever truly let go of their hold on his heart.

Ainz saw Inta and Entoma were still kneeling where he left them when he returned, and now in a much calmer state, he put a hand on Entoma's head and rubbed it gently, "They are dead. They are gone. No one lives there anymore, and no one ever will again."

"Thank you, Lord Ainz." Entoma said and rubbed the top of her head against his skeletal hand.

"Now, continue your story." Ainz said in a more fatherly way and reclaiming his seat at the desk in his office.

Entoma resumed speaking, but Ainz listened with only one ear, his eyes were focused on what he saw which was that Entoma and Inta had unthinkingly clasped their hands together side by side.

When the last word of the last explanation and the last words were relayed from the Chasm Father and Web Mother to Lord Ainz's ears in Nazarick, Entoma took a deep breath and said, "And that is all, Lord Ainz."

All Vanysa's words came to him about what she'd learned, and it was finally time for him to speak about it.

But the words died in his nonexistent throat.

"Tell me, Inta, Entoma… what is the nature of your relationship?" He asked, expecting them to realize their hands were clasped and yank away from one another, but instead, their grips tightened, fingers running together back and forth.

"I love her, Your Majesty." Inta said and bowed his head.

Ainz had nothing to swallow, but that didn't make the lump in his throat feel less real.

"Entoma?" He prompted.

"I-I love him, Lord Ainz." She said and bowed her head.

"If you knew that this would lead to the pain of abandonment, if you knew that this would lead to the worst pain of your life, and that it might go on for year after year, maybe never to abate, would you still say the same and stay your current course?" He asked her, his hands sliding across his desk and his fingers interlocking together, grateful not for the first time that he could show no expression on his skinless face.

"Lord Ainz… if you could go back, and undo ever meeting the Supreme Beings, our creators, would you?" Entoma asked.

Ainz was silent, he bowed his head. "I had you investigated, Inta, I know you better than you know yourself." He made the cryptic statement and the vampire looked at him with questioning red eyes. "I know it is possible that my Entoma would be deeply wounded without you ever meaning to do it… but I also know that you would do anything to stand beside her and protect her as long as that love endures."

He took a deep, needless breath, "What Entoma asks me is a fair question. My friends, losing them was horrible, terrible, agonizing… and there are many days when I think something like, "I wish I didn't feel this way." He snorted, "But do I wish I'd never met them? Would I undo all those times? No. No, I would not. I'm glad I knew them, glad we made Nazarick together, glad to have the family I do now. If I could go back and make those choices again, I wouldn't change a single thing. Because as much as it hurt, it was worth it."

"Then that will be my answer, Lord Ainz." Entoma said, "Even if it hurts later, I don't want to do without all this now."

Ainz's eyes went back and forth between the two kneeling before him, and he made his decision. Inta's former life, his curse, 'We will study it, see if we can reverse it, but whether we can or not, it would only hurt Entoma now to know, and I must protect her while her happiness can still begin.' So he buried the secret in his heart for the moment and said, "Then I grant you my blessing."

"Thank you, My Lord." The pair said in unison.

"You are like my own child, Entoma, all of you are. Not just 'the children of my friends' but mine, but greedy as I am, I know I can't keep you all to myself forever." Ainz said, his red eyes twinkled with affection and Entoma spoke up, her voice almost childlike with its quavering.

"Does… is that really… like your own children… you feel so strongly about us all?" Entoma asked.

"I do." Ainz answered without hesitation.

"Then… I hope you will feel just as strongly about the grandchildren to come." Entoma added, prompting the jaws of both Ainz and Inta to drop at once, before both pairs of red eyes lit up with happiness, and Entoma nodded her head to confirm that she meant every word she said.

-End-

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